ADULT THEMES AND GRAPHIC SCENES AHEAD:

THIS IS GOING TO BE AN EXTREMELY GRAPHIC FANFICTION. IT IS NOT INTENDED FOR IMMATURE AUDIENCES AND MAY CONTAIN TRIGGERS FOR SOME READERS. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY AS A READER TO KEEP THIS IN MIND FOR THE FUTURE. I WILL REPOST THIS DISCLAIMER AT THE BEGINNING OF EVERY CHAPTER WITH GRAPHIC CONTENT. I WILL DO MY BEST TO ENSURE THAT IF YOU SKIP THE CHAPTER THAT YOU WILL NOT LOSE ANY OF THE EXPERIENCE.

PLEASE BE KIND AND CONSIDERATE WHEN READING. CRITIQUE IS ENCOURAGED BUT RUDENESS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.

THANK YOU FOR READING. I HOPE YOU ENJOY.

Gajeel stepped into the clearing, tasting the scent of the air with his sensitive nose. Large pine trees stretched in every direction, green blanketing the rolling hills and trapping the early morning mist in their low-hanging branches. He rolled his shoulders and cracked his knuckles, his keen sense not picking up anything threatening.

He'd chosen to pick a solo mission. Pantherlily had been getting on his nerves lately with his shameless prying and Levy was too busy trying to repair the still-damaged egos of Team Shadow Gear to have time to go with him. This wasn't a problem. For some reason he'd been craving some solitude from the rowdiness of the guildhall and nattering gossips that populated the halls. So, he'd picked up a mission about tracking some runaway punks and headed out.

Boys had been missing from the nearby villages and it was rumored that they were making a base of sorts in the evergreen forests of the mountains. Most of them were troubled teens and young adults, some strong and others just outcasts or orphans. Well someone wanted them accounted for, anyway.

Collection missions, always so trivial but more often than not easy enough to complete when there were human scents involved.

He picked a direction that led away from the closest villages and started off at a leisurely jog. Nothing had seemed amiss since he'd started and he'd already slept under the stars the past couple of nights, so he was sure today would be the day he finally stumbled on a clue of sorts. The stale scent of a boy, a discarded shirt, some footprints maybe…

He froze when the air suddenly charged with electrical energy and thunder deafened the sky. He braced himself against the residual static that was making his flesh prickle and the iron in his stomach roll nervously.

"What the hell?" Gajeel growled, snapping his head in the direction of the sound. He suddenly heard the trampling sounds of someone fleeing for their life. He stood ready, his magic prepared to activate and defend against the upcoming threat.

Suddenly, a boy burst through the bushes. He was running blindly, his eyes wild with terror and cuts and abrasions across his body. Gajeel jumped in his way and grabbed him by the collar, immediately halting his sprint.

"Please! Let me go!" he pleaded, fighting against his grip.

"Give me a good reason," Gajeel looked down at him, his red eyes filled with annoyance as the frightened kid tried to break free from his grasp. He couldn't have been over 17 years old.

"Please! They're gonna catch me!"

"The only one catchin' ya is me," Gajeel huffed, turning his head to the direction the boy had come from. He took in a deep breath, catching the sent of someone else… someone familiar…

"Let me go!"

"Who the hell is followin' ya, kid?" Gajeel growled, feeling a strong magical aura beginning to surface. It was rising steadily, like someone who knew their prey wouldn't be getting away. He could hear footsteps, calm and nearly silent on the pine needle covered floor.

"Redfox?" he saw yellow eyes first, winking in the shade as they approached, and then the hulking figure of Laxus Dreyer emerged from the deep green.

"Laxus," Gajeel regarded the Lightning Mage, "Should've known it was you," The boy whimpered and pulled behind Gajeel, seeking refuge in his shadow. Gajeel tossed the shaking teen onto the earth in front of Laxus, "This trash yours?"

Laxus stared down at the boy for a moment, electrical discharge sparking the air around him as his usual bored expression replaced the energy he'd had before, "No, I don't think it is,"

"Well he was runnin' from ya," Gajeel huffed, pulling out a list from inside of his jacket. On it was the names of all the teens that had gone missing, "What's yer name, kid?"

"Please, don't take me back…" he murmured, curling into a ball on the ground, "I'll do anything…"

Gajeel's eyes flashed to Laxus and back to the kid, "The only place I'm taking you is back to yer village. Now, what's yer name?"

The boy made no reply, only whimpered on the ground.

"Mavis's sakes," Gajeel growled, walking up to him, "I ain't got the patience for this."

"What are you doing out here, Redfox?" Laxus's voice halted his advancement and he eyed the Lightning Mage warily. He still wasn't on good terms with the Dragon Slayer and he didn't like that they had both run into each other in the middle of nowhere.

"I'm on a mission. Some boys in the nearby cities have been going missing and the mayors want them found. They think that they might be up to mischief," Gajeel grunted, cocking an eyebrow at him, "You?"

"There have been a few breaking and enterings in the area mostly involving potion and magic shops. One of the owners reported seeing the culprits running off into the woods," he stated flatly, looking at their prisoner, "I heard someone in the bushes and figured it was one of the thieves,"

"Aye?" Gajeel squatted down next to the kid, "So which one are ya kid? A runaway or a thief?"

"I… I was kidnapped…" the boy stammered, looking up at the two Mages, "I didn't run away…"

Gajeel and Laxus exchanged looks, "What do you mean, kidnapped?"

"The boy is definitely shaken but is stable. He'll probably go back home by the end of the week," the doctor said politely, hugging her clipboard just underneath her swollen bosom. Her uniform seemed just a tad too tight to be standard issue, and Gajeel couldn't help but notice the two strategic buttons that had been left undone to better flaunt her cleavage.

He was leaning against the wall with arms crossed, all agitated aura with Laxus reclining in a chair next to him. They'd spent the better part of three hours in the lounge waiting for word on the boy and what he might have to say.

"He said something about being kidnapped when we were in the forest," Gajeel drawled, casting a glance to the hospital door, "Did he say anything else?"

"I'm afraid not," the doctor shook her head, flipping her long black locks as she did so, "He seems to be in a fair amount of distress and exhaustion. He went to sleep immediately upon getting here. I don't recommend disturbing him at this point. If he really has been through a traumatic experience, he needs his rest,"

"Yeah," Gajeel crossed his arms, "Thanks,"

"Let me know if there's anything I can help either of you gentlemen with," she smiled cunningly, leaning forward as she did so, her eyebrows raising slightly, "My staff and I are always happy to assist."

"We'll be sure to come to you," Laxus's lip curled up slightly on one side as he spoke, his yellow eyes sparking mischievously.

"Of course," she winked at him before turning on a pointed heel and heading down the hall to another room.

"Gihi, I'm telling Mirajane," Gajeel smirked.

"I just said what she wanted to hear," Laxus growled, standing up and following the Iron Mage towards the exit.

"Doesn't change the fact that you were flirting with another woman," Gajeel grinned devilishly.

"Yeah, yeah,"

"So, you think they're connected?" Gajeel's smile disappeared once they reached daylight. It was true he didn't consider Laxus an enemy, but he decided not to press his luck on hazing. This was Laxus, not Levy or Pantherlily.

"It depends," Laxus mused.

"On?"

"Whether or not the rest of the boys were kidnapped,"

"It would mean that something bigger is going on besides petty thefts, anyway," Gajeel popped his knuckles and cast his eyes back to the forest, "But that would mean they'd have to have a base somewhere in the general vicinity, and I scoured over most of that forest and didn't find anything,"

"If this is organized crime involving magic it would mean a base would be better hidden than your run-of-the-mill dark guild's. These people wouldn't want to be found,"

"Something underground, then," Gajeel growled, scratching the back of his head, "Those large hills would be good for that then. They would just have to carve out the inside of one. Something deep in the woods where noise would be muffled by the pine needles."

"And a gully near the entrance, so any noise would be directed towards the sky instead of spreading throughout the forest," Laxus sighed.

"I love reconnaissance missions," Gajeel smirked.

"Well I don't," Laxus growled, "I'd rather take people out first and answer questions later,"

"You could always go visit Ms. Doctor back at the hospital. I'm sure she'd be all for that," Gajeel grunted, heading for the pines, "Besides, if I do your job for you I get double the pay,"

"Nice try, Redfox," Laxus quickly followed, static filling the air around him.